Perception Of `Billion Dollar' Scripps Bill Concerns Officials

County officials say it's not the cost of The Scripps Research Institute's Florida expansion they're struggling to control, it's the perception that the cost will top $1 billion.

County administrators blame the media for the calculation, which, they say, inflates the cost and unfairly combines state and county contributions. They're also concerned that the billion-dollar mark could be a psychological threshold for taxpayers that could undermine the project's success.

Scripps program manager Bevin Beaudet said county officials were caught off-guard last month when newspapers first began using the "dreaded billion-dollar number," which is calculated by adding the state's $369 million share and $667 million -- the amount the county will spend over the next four decades to develop the Scripps-anchored research park.

"I'm an engineer and a program manager. I guess I'm not the world's best PR person," Beaudet said. "This project moved so fast. We churn out all kinds of info here. We don't always have enough time to plan the release of it from a PR point of view. We want to get the project done here. We're not spin doctors."

County officials argue that costs will be offset by money the county will collect by selling land surrounding the Scripps campus for houses, shops, restaurants and biotech companies. They expect to show more than $35 million of profit by 2041.

The county is planning to build the project on the 1,900-acre Mecca Farms orange grove. But county commissioners -- worried about traffic and environmental concerns and the cost of extending roads and utilities to the remote property -- are now considering alternate sites.

Beaudet said the public's reaction to the billion-dollar price tag might have made some commissioners "squeamish" about the Mecca property.

In a letter to commissioners, county administrator Bob Weisman broke down the project's costs and offered a new option to cut expenses by more than $250 million. He suggested selling future phases of the project to developers, who would then cover road and utility costs.

Weisman said the problem with the billion-dollar calculation is that it gives the impression that the project's costs have skyrocketed when the truth is that previous projections hadn't been completed. The county projection of its share ballooned to $667 million last month after it calculated debt service, transportation and utility costs.

Howard J. Rubenstein, a public relations expert in New York City, said the county might not be able to change the public's perception that they are overseeing a $1 billion project. But they can ease the sticker shock by focusing on the project's benefits.

"A billion dollars is enough to shake up any person," Rubenstein said. "But if you break it down and keep harping on the returns so taxpayers know they won't shoulder the entire burden, you can get past it."

Christopher Carroll, co-executive director of the Florida Public Relations Association, said the key for county officials is to anticipate costs and be straightforward about them.

"Before you release any dollar figures, you should make sure you know what the true costs would be," Carroll said. "Once the billion is out there, it's always going to be out there."

Prashant Gopal can be reached at pgopal@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6602